One doesn’t commonly associate the slogan “make love not war” with the U.S. military. Indeed, the United States military is feared and formidable precisely because it has proven so effective at conceptualizing clever and innovative ways to search, find and destroy, often with the simple push of a button. However, in…

There's no governing body proclaiming this the world's smallest crossbow, but it's only slightly larger than a full-sized crossbow arrow so it's got to be up there. Joerg designed this crossbow to be safe. The arrow is fully encapsulated so it won't accidentally shoot off in an unexpected direction. You cock the…

Patrick Priebe of Laser Gadgets builds custom props with a little something extra, from steampunk laser guns that can really burn to a crossbow that fires buzz saw blades. Here he adds his laser magic to an Iron Man-style gauntlet, arming it with enough power to pop a balloon.

The Fire Shadow is an unmanned flying machine that can loiter unnoticed, hovering over an area for six hours, waiting to receive a kill order on any designated moving or static target—and then fall on it like a suicidal bird of prey to destroy it.

Large-scale, international events like the Olympics are often considered as targets for terrorist attacks. The UK's Ministry of Defence is taking that extremely seriously: it's placing surface-to-air missiles on a residential apartment building during the summer's sporting event.

DARPA has a plan called Prompt Global Strike that'll knock out any terrorist target within an hour using a remote aircraft. Sounds great, except the first trial of this advanced weapon failed miserably. The defense agency now has one more try to get it right or the project will be canceled.

The US suffered a tremendous loss Saturday in Afganistan when the downing of a Chinook helicopter took the lives of 31 special forces troops. As Danger Room reports, it may have been an entirely new Taliban weapon that did it:

Men, you know what it's like to slink out of Wal-Mart with a fistful of plastic bags containing "feminine hygiene" products for your significant other. With these Asian brass knuckles, you can reclaim at least some of your dignity.

Watching a movie set in medieval times isn't enough to realize just how damn heavy those suits of steel actually are. Weighing between 30 - 50kg, you'd think they would impact and impede the wearer's actions. Or did they?

This triple-barreled, bronze cannon was first unearthed 40 years ago by Croatian schoolchildren. Since then, there has been speculation that it might be one of Leonardo DaVinci's much sought-after primitive machine guns. The speculation is over. It's been confirmed.

The same dude who chiselled a mini cannon has turned his attention to another medieval weapon—the crossbow. Will it be enough for mini-Robin Hood to slay the mini-Sheriff of Nottingham? [Reddit via CrunchGear]

The best way to scare the stuffing out of new recruits? Fire up the ol' rocket launcher, but rig it so that the rocket in question just piddles out a few feet ahead. Nothing like presumed certain death to build morale! [dpnf via The Daily What]

What type of low-tech weapons are supporters of Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak using to attack the protestors in Cairo? Think rocks, camels, Molotov cocktails, space heaters and even a cavalry charge.

In the near future, US Navy ships won't use explosive cannons. They will destroy targets 100 miles away with the monster 33-megajoules railgun shown in this video. In the words of Rear Admiral Nevin P. Carr: This "really changes several games."

Fringe right wing conspiracy theorists are aren't delusional! Obama is planning to take over the nation, starting with a December appearance on Mythbusters, asking the team to ready Archimedes' solar ray. He's bummed he won't get to shoot it, though.

Gamers and game developers appear to have an obsession with weapons and our friends at Kotaku intend to explore that obsession. This week, they'll take us from the history of headshots to cutting-edge games used in military training. [Kotaku]

101 Weapons for Women is probably a lovely book with plenty of great suggestions as to what can be used as an improvised weapon in case of danger, but I really don't think a floppy disk belongs among those things.

The first tiny cannon video was just an appetizer. This, the second in the series, is the main course of destruction: glass bottles, fluorescent lights, computer monitors, and another balloon—but this time it's filled with gas. [LaughingSquid]